What is it?

Coming into hospital can be difficult for many people. Questions and anxieties arise that we are not faced with in our everyday lives. The Trust’s Chaplaincy team works alongside patients, their families and carers and staff to provide spiritual and religious care during these times of need and uncertainty.

We are here to help whether a person has a specific faith or not – our interest is in the whole person and their life. We offer a range of Spiritual and Holistic Healthcare, including:

Regular visits to wards/units to meet with patients/carers/staff

A confidential listening presence to complement medical and nursing care

A relationship that may help find meaning and purpose within the present life experience

A point of contact with the appropriate faith community

Christian and Muslim worship and prayers in the hospital chapels and Prayer Rooms

Holy Communion at the bedside by request

Staff training in spiritual, religious and cultural awareness; spiritual aspect of palliative care; understanding and dealing with grief and loss; an audit and E-learning tool: 'Who Cares?' on the simplicity and breadth of spiritual and holistic healthcare

Bereavement support to those who have lost a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death

The Chapels at Pinderfields Hospital and Pontefract Hospital are open 24 hours a day. Dewsbury and District Hospital Faith Centre is open from approximately 7.30am-10.00pm.

Chaplaincy space is available for private prayer, meditation and calming and Chaplains are available on the wards, in the corridors, via telephone and via pager 24 hours a day. To page a chaplain please contact switchboard on 0844 811 8110.

Further advice and resources

Additional Services

We have three Muslim Chaplains within the Trust, at least one of whom will be available every day to provide person-centred care in the wards and departments. They are Maemuna Bhana, who attends to the spiritual and religious needs of female Muslims patients and visitors across the Trust, Moulana Ilyas Dalal and Moulana Aslam Seedat.

To assist in our provision of care to and for the Muslim community, we have two Imams who lead Friday prayers at Dewsbury and District and Pinderfields Hospitals.

We also have part-time Roman Catholic Chaplains at each of our sites and chaplaincy volunteer ward visitors.